The Innocent Killer: Amanda Young's Story
by MonochromeMarksTheSpot
Summary: Have you ever wondered what really happened to Amanda before she was reborn via the reverse bear trap? This story tells of the things she loved, the events she experienced, and the people she encountered on her journey to becoming Jigsaws fated apprentice
1. Chapter 1: Captured

Amanda held her hand over her neck. The blood was curdiling from deep within, pooling up on the outer layer of her skin. She struggled to stop the blood, choking on the viscous red liquid as it bubbled up within her throat. She could almost feel the cold metal of the bullet within her wound, it obstructed some of the bleeding, but didn't aid her in trying to breath.

Red was all she could see, she was angry and dieing of blood loss. Amanda gurgled like a small child as she attempted to keep the blood down to no avail.

All of a sudden, a spurt of blood exploded from her lips and onto the dirtied sick-room floor. She collapsed onto the floor and laid in a puddle of blood. In a last stitch attempt to grasp some sort of comfort, she reached her trembling hand out towards John, but he did not move. She was close to death,immediately her whole life started flashing before her.

Amanda entered the room, dressed in only a loose white dress shirt with a sultry smirk on her face. Her messy long auburn hair rested on her shoulders. She clungto the doorway as she glanced at her partner who sat on the edge of the bed. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of loose fitting boxer shorts. Their eyes met, and they both laughed in a lighthearted tone.

They were immeasurably happy,despite their harsh upbringings;Amanda was a child abused from birth, and Brian was the son of a drug dealer. Amanda ran into his arms, and they both collapsed on the bed, giggling as they held each other closely. She played with his hair as he placed kiss upon kiss on the smooth skin of her neck. Amanda playfully licked his cheek as they tussled and intertwined within the soft covers of their bed. They lived in a third floor apartment located on the outskirts of town. They would have gone with a building that had better upkeep, or even a house, but that was all they could afford.

Brian and Amanda were young lovers without a care in their hearts, or a penny in their wallets. Brian's hands ran down her body, feeling her creamy white skin. His fingertips graced her arms, and moved down to her thighs. He watched as his hands moved across her body. He had noticed that all her cuts, and scars, were healing. All the cutting she had resorted to she wasn't returning to, her soul had been mended. He curled her hair in his fingers feeling its soft fluffy texture.

All of a sudden Amanda jumped him, hands and knees on the bed, hovering over him. He laughed coyly, and looked into her big brown eyes, bright and full of hope. Brian smiled.

Amanda leaned down and kissed Brian on the lips. When she withdrew, Brian began to unbutton the first button on the men's dress shirt that Amanda wore.

Without a moments time passing, a large slamming sound was heard. "Put your hands where I can SEE them!" an enraged Eric Matthews yelled, a vein on his neck jutting out as he spoke. Eric held a matte black gun tightly in his trembling hands. An entire fleet of SWAT entered the room aiming their guns at all corners of the room, making sure the coast was clear. If Brian's jaw was unlocked, it would be dropping to the floor right at this very moment; clearly in shock at what he saw. He felt Amanda slip behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. Her head rested on his right shoulder, a look of terror and bewilderment on her face. "Well, well well. If it isn't the junkie herself." Eric said in a resentful tone. He walked over to the bed and furrowed his eyebrows as he studied her expression.

Eric let out a light, menacing chuckle as he threw a manila folder onto their bed. He flipped through the pages until he reached a bright yellow page covered in tiny print. Eric shoved the paper in Amanda's face, and motioned towards the SWAT team to take a look around. Amanda grabbed the yellow paper and began to read it. It was titled "Search Warrant" and below was listed a number of things that was going to happen.

"1. All your belongings will be searched."

Rigg went into the bathroom and opened the rusty bathroom cabinet. A mouse scurried out from the bottom shelf and onto the top of the eroding bathroom sink. Rigg displayed a look of disgust as he carelessly sorted through the cabinet, throwing things that had no meaning to the operation from side to side.

As Amanda and Brian collectively studied the paper in awed silence, Eric departed into the next room and started to search their apartment himself. Eric barged into the kitchen, its floors dirty and unkempt with only a dim yellow light fixture placed on the ceiling above his head. He searched through drawer upon drawer until he came upon an empty drawer. The paint was chipping off from the inside, and it was dingy and wet with mold.

Eric looked left and right, to make sure nobody was there. He shoved his hand in his left pocket and rummaged through its contents. He pulled out a surgical glove. Eric dressed his left hand in the glove, and used the same hand to go through his shirt pocket. He removed a clear plastic bag from his pocket and shoved it in the drawer.

Immediately after, Rigg and the rest of the SWAT team arrived in the doorway of the kitchen. "Help me look through these drawers, I'll check the fridges and the cabinets." he said coolly. Eric made his way to the fridge and opened it, buying time by pretending to look through the few groceries Amanda and Brian had in their fridge. All he could see was a moldy banana and some spoiled milk with numerous half-empty week old takeout containers. The SWAT team lead by Rigg recklessly tore out the drawers one by one and took a quick glance at what was hidden within them. Eric watched silently as Rigg reached the last drawer. He slid it out quickly and it slammed on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor.

Eric walked up to it, and crouched before it as Rigg stood behind him looking on. Eric pointed to the bag, and looked up to Rigg. Rigg sighed and shook his head, and then went back into the room where two members of the SWAT team were watching Amanda and Brian, making sure they did not escape. Amanda clung to Brian, crying softly in his arms as the SWAT team destroyed their home without a care. "You people are ruthless, this is our home, you can't just do this!" Said Brian in an angry tone. Rigg displayed a look of sympathy, but quickly returned to his stone-cold serious expression.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you into custody, Ms. Young."

Amanda's face fell at Rigg's last sentence."You can't do that to her! Shes done nothing wrong!" Brian angrily exclaimed. "Oh I'm not so sure shes done nothing." Said Eric; entering the room with the ziploc he placed in the drawer pinched between his index and thumb fingers. Brian looked over to Amanda who looked just as shocked as he did. "Is that a...a...syringe?" said Brian quizzically. "Yes, It's a syringe--filled with the ever-popular street drug named Heroin. It appears as if there is dried blood on the syringe, Amanda Young's perhaps..?" Said Detective Matthews. "How would you even know it was Amanda's!?" Brian retorted as he clasped Amanda's hand tightly, trying to defend her. "We watched an exchange between her and a well-known drug dealer, she gave him some money from a small red box. In return, the dealer gave her heroin in this rusty syringe."Eric Matthews uttered, all too confidently.

Brian let his grip fall from Amanda's hand. "But...I didn't do this..." Amanda said nervously trying to make contact with Brian's eyes. "These prints tell differently." Eric said in a businesslike tone. Brian looked away from Amanda and stood up from the bed, with eyes cold and expressionless. "Brian I swear, I didn't do anything!" yelled Amanda in his direction. Rigg and Eric could sense Amanda's rage. Rigg approached and cuffed her, as she attempted wriggling from his grip. It was no use, Rigg had her in cuffs and out the door as Eric followed stating her Miranda rights. Amanda wouldn't give up, she kept struggling for freedom. She lunged at Eric Matthews. "Hey, what do you think your trying to do here?" He said to her angrily. "How could you do this to me?" She said, on the verge of tears. Eric's anger rose, and he came up to Amanda, grabbing her by the hair, and faced her towards him.

"You better fucking pay attention, either your going to go quietly and not be hurt, or your going to make a racket and be beaten DOWN. You got that?"

Brian clenched his fist, mad at Eric's fierce commands. However, Brian couldn't bring himself to take any action. Rigg looked at Matthews threateningly, but didn't take any action. Amanda cried out in pain as he tugged at her scalp. Eric finally released his grip as they passed through the front door of the apartment building. In the doorway, Amanda attempted communication again with Brian. "I SWEAR! BRIAN! I DIDN'T DO THIS!" she screamed as she reached her hands, cuffed, out for him. Brian followed them out the door, watching Amanda struggle for freedom. He wanted to help her, but he couldn't.

He was irreversibly mad at her.

His father was a druggie himself, so he knew how this went. Amanda abandoned him for drugs, just like his father done years ago. That was all that plagued Brian's mind. He couldn't believe she could do such a thing. The SWAT team finished searching and eventually emptied the house. Brian cradled his head in his hands, unable to fully understand what was going on. Brian thought back to what had happened previous to the police team barging in their room. They were as happy as can be, cuddling and romantically exchanging sweet little kisses upon each other's skin.

He wanted to go back to that moment, and cherish it forever. But after all that, he knew he had to detach from Amanda now. Having another person in his life who abused drugs was not a good thing for him. It opened too many wounds from past experiences with his father.

Brian entered their apartment, and studied its contents. Personal belongings were strewn across the floor, clothes and blankets hungfrom the fans and the few pieces of furniture that they owned. Brian hung his head as he picked through all their items. He located his worn out duffel bag that he owned since he was a teenager. He stuffed it with memories of his life with Amanda; pictures, clothes, food, socks, and the little money that he had in the top drawer of his dresser. He slammed the door of the apartment they had shared closed; Locking it with a key.

He was going somewhere to get away from it all. He needed to leave and find a place of solace.

Meanwhile, Amanda sat in the cop car, sobbing loudly. Amanda clawed on the glass, trying to find a way out. The cuffs donning her wrists kept her from freeing herself. She smashed them into the window, hoping to crack it or break it. She thought maybe when the car reached a slow enough speed, she could crawl out the window. Eric Matthews sat in the passenger seat of the car, reading through some papers. "LET ME OUT OF HERE, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Amanda cried out. "Shut the fuck up, Amanda. Seriously, you have the right to remain fucking silent. Do you want me to come back there?" he growled in a menacing tone.

Amanda cried louder, hyperventilating along the way. She decided that to remain alive, she should comply with his terms. She sat back on the leather seat, trying to hold back her tears. If she stayed quiet, it would satisfy him, and maybe he'd let her off, or at least give her a chance. All she could hear was the muffled sound of sirens emanating from the top of the car. The colors red and blue were reflected on the windows.

She slouched down in her seat and spread out on it, laying down. Eric glanced back at her, to see if she was behaving. She was doing as he had told, so he turned back around. "So Matthews, where are we going next?" Rigg asked. "First we're going to take this bitch down to the precinct to have her locked up, and then we will go pick up this Laura chick." He said senselessly."What did Laura do?" Rigg said casually. "The Congress Mall called me down last Saturday to look at their footage, apparently this girl has shoplifted numerous times in many different department stores." Eric answered. "Shes stolen about 5,000 dollars worth of merchandise from a various number of locations." He continued. "Jesus..." Rigg said quietly. "Yeah, It seems like we're looking at a Kleptomaniac case here." Matthews retorted. Seconds later, the car came to a halt. "Here we are, princess." Detective Matthews said in a sarcastic tone.

Eric pushed his door open, got out, and yanked on the back door handle. A still-shocked Amanda fumbled out of the car, and Eric seized her arm. He grabbed her chin with his index finger and thumb of his other arm, pointing her chin upward. "Now you better listen to me, you are gonna play nice in there, or I'm gonna start hurting you again. You got that?" He uttered in a cold tone. Amanda looked away from Detective Matthews, trying to focus on anything else around her, she was sick of seeing his angry face. All of a sudden her eyes caught on a blond man wearing a red shirt in the park across from the street. In his arms he held a girl with gorgeous wavy blond locks. He playfully pushed her up against a tree. Amanda read the words on his lips.

"I love you, Jill."

He kissed her lightly on the lips. When he withdrew from her, you could see a casual smile upon her face. They were happy, just like her and Brian. "...Brian." she muttered softly. As Detective Matthews lead her into the police station, and closed the doors. Amanda wanted to glance back at the happy couple again, because it reminded her of better times, but now all that was in her line of sight was a colossal black door. Detective Matthews let go of Amanda's arm and walked off into the catacombs of the police station. Amanda looked at the door, her eyes glazed over.

She banged her cuffed hands on the door, as she whimpered softly.

All of a sudden, Rigg came into the room, and approached her. "There will be none of that, Amanda." Said Rigg as he reached her. He gently tore her away from the door, and lead her to the holding cells. Amanda played along, Rigg was much calmer then Matthews, she was glad to have him taking her back instead of seeing Eric's menacing face once again. She was placed in a cell by herself, a small toilet and two bunk beds located within.

Amanda plunked herself down on the dingy cot, and laid on her back, crying herself to sleep. Hours later, Rigg appeared in front of Amanda's cell. "It's time for your call" he said. Amanda rose from the cot, and sat up. Groggily, she stumbled over to the barred door. Amanda curled her fingers around the cold metal bar in front of her as she watched Rigg unlock her cage. She shuffled her feet over in the direction of the phone hung on the wall. She wearily reached her arm up to the receiver, and grasped it in her shaky hands. "Who am I going to call...Brian doesn't even have a phone..." she said to herself. She turned to her left, and saw Rigg looking on concerned. "Maybe you should call a lawyer...or someone who could bail you out until your trial...?" Rigg said calmly, pointing to the yellow phone book stored on a shelf underneath the receiver.

Amanda picked it up, leafing through the pages, searching for someone to call. She looked at all the listings, searching for the number of the supervisors office of her apartment building. Maybe he could somehow give the phone to Brian. Amanda looked at every page, and read into every possible listing that could have anything to do with her apartment complex. Unfortunately all leads resulted in dead ends. Amanda closed the book shut, and shoved itback in the shelf. She sniffled, and wiped her tears on the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing, Brian's shirt.

Rigg shook his head, and approached Amanda. "Maybe you should go back into your cell for awhile and think about who you should call..." Amanda glanced at him, and wordlessly made her way back into the cell. Rigg stood outside and locked her in. He walked away, leaving Amanda in the cell by herself. Amanda picked her head up to look around, and she saw something different about the room. There was a person lying on the cot opposite of hers. The girl was young, seemingly in her early 20s.

The girl was fast asleep. Amanda stood above her, reaching her hand out towards her, trying to rouse her. All of a sudden, Rigg re-entered the holding cell room. "Amanda...Don't do that!" he said. Amanda became cross, and defied Rigg's command. She took both her hands and placed them on the girl, and started shaking her to and fro. Rigg slapped his palm to his head, and the girl woke.

--

Author's Notes: I revised it, after it was pointed out that the format was wrong. So hopefully it will now be easier to read . Review are very kindly looked upon, and I advice is also appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2: Memories

Stirring, the girl with the platinum blond hair held her head up, and looked around the room.

"Shit!" she said almost instantly. "Where are my contacts...?!" she uttered nervously. A frantic Laura combed the bed she sat on for her contacts, feeling around for their squishy, smooth texture. A shocked Amanda stood speechlessly in front of her. Laura couldn't tell Amanda was standing less then a foot away from her, because she was too consumed in finding her source of sight. After several minutes of Laura looking around and Amanda and Rigg exchanging awkward glances, she gave up. Laura laid her head back on the bed in a huff, sighing out of stress. She opened her eyes wide again to examine the rest of the room.

Laura observed that there was a large form located right in front of her, it appeared to be a person. "...Is someone there?" Laura questioned. Amanda's eyebrows raised as Rigg watched the encounter in his peripheral vision. Rigg was on watch duty at the time, so he had nothing better to do than watch what went on in the cells. Amanda stared at Laura for awhile, studying the look of confusion upon her face before she spoke. "...Yeah theres someone here." said Amanda quietly. Amanda was eternally shy in her behavior. Laura's brows furrowed the minute she heard Amanda's voice. "Who are you...?" questioned Laura, furiously. "My name is...Amanda." Amanda uttered with a slight feeling of regret. For some reason Amanda couldn't pick out, she didn't feel like it was a good idea to have revealed her actual name to this stranger.

"Where the fuck am I, Amanda?"

After Laura asked where she was, Amanda took a look around the room again. She reluctantly studied the grimy toilet in the corner and the two disgusting cots dressed in very worn and over-used sheets. The bars holding the cots up were made of a very cheap metal that was deteriorating and rusting by the minute. At any given moment, the bed supports could collapse. Amanda paused, and then she spoke again.

"Looks like we're in hell."

Cogs turned in Laura's head at Amanda's statement.. "Oh...er, Jail right? I think I remember being arrested a while ago...by the way, the name's Laura." Laura retorted in a calmer tone. "Oh...okay." said Amanda, less interested in her now. There was a brief pause, and then Laura spoke. "So how did you get here anyway...?" she said. "I...don't even know." Amanda said quickly. "Oh come on, there has got to be more to your story." Laura said as she rolled her eyes at Amanda's poor attention to detail. "Well...one minute I was home and safe, the next a SWAT team barged in and teared me out of my home." Amanda responded. Laura's face suddenly turned cold and expressionless.

"Yeah...they took me from my home too..."

With those words, they both glanced at the floor; concerned looks painted on their faces. They were trying to revive the better times in their head, and play them back. Laura tried to regain her composure, but she was still in sheer shock. She tried to study the room the best she could, but all she could make out was black, green, brown, and dark orange shapes.

Laura sat up on the bed and wrapped her arms around her knees, softly sobbing. Amanda sat on the bed next to Laura, and she put her hand on Laura's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. They could both hear the sound of footsteps going out the gates of the holding cells, Rigg had completed his shift, and by the looks of it Amanda and Laura were getting along well enough for him to leave.

Neither Amanda or Laura paid attention to their surroundings, they just silently comforted one another by being in each other's company. They were both unsure of what was going to happen next. Laura grabbed Amanda's hand and rubbed it with her thumb, and rested her head on Amanda's shoulder. Instantly, Amanda felt wet. She looked down and saw that Laura's hair was damp and smelled like grass after a fresh rain. Amanda pushed the hair away from her shoulder, and out of Laura's tear-soaked eyes.

Amanda then contemplated what could have made her so damp. God, it must have been pouring when Matthews took her out of the police car, poor thing...I hope to she doesn't catch anything in this dump. Despite her rather grim outlook on the situation, she tried to reassure Laura that it would be fine. "We'll make it through..." said Amanda softly. "...Laura?" Amanda questioned if she was awake or asleep. Amanda looked down to the blond girl, clad in a rose pink summer dress.

She didn't respond.

Laura had fallen asleep. Amanda gently shifted her shoulder out from underneath Laura, and put a pillow in its place, laying her down on the bed. She lifted up the bedsheets and tucked them in around Laura to ensure she wasn't cold. Amanda then walked to the other side of the cell, and plopped herself down on the bed. With lack of having anything better to do, she watched Laura sleep for awhile. She admired her pretty blond hair from afar, and wished she had a cute little dress like hers to wear. Amanda watched her chest rise and fall over and over again.

For some reason Amanda could not put her finger on, she took a liking to Laura. She tried admiring her in the dark lit room, but it was almost impossible. She could barely make out the shape of her, as the sun had set and everything in the room blended into one black mess. The natural light from the sun was pretty much the only thing that aided her to see beforehand. Amanda laid on her back, closed her eyes, and tried to think of happier thoughts. Immediately she was brought back in time, to the park across the street, and the couple. She thought that they were sharing a typical moment for a happy couple, but it was really the opposite.

Jill walked just a few feet in front of John, marveling at all the tall trees green with life. She was so happy, and in love.

She twirled around the path imagining herself as a ballerina; she had never been such full with bliss since her childhood years. When Jill was a little girl she dreamed of becoming a ballerina. John watched as she gracefully made her way along the cobblestone path. He laughed lightly as he watched her bask in the sun's rays. John recalled the first moments they shared together, and of course that fateful Monday they discovered Jill was pregnant.

John was beaming with joy when he found out he was going to be a father. John had a lot of darkness in his life previous to his relationship with Jill, so having her by his side was the best thing that could happen to him. This was really a breakthrough in the relationship. Times like these were a rare occurrence. Previous to them finding out Jill was pregnant, they had been clashing non-stop. All of a sudden John saw Jill stop in her tracks.

She crouched down in front of a patch of grass. Quizzically, John followed her to the same spot, and stood behind her, looking on."John, take a look at this flower..." said Jill. She pointed to a small flower that was peeking out of what seemed to be a completely dead patch of grass. Despite its surroundings, it was full with life. John bent down next to Jill, and reached his arm out to the flower. He felt the rich creamy texture of the flower's bright red petals. Then his fingertips graced the stem, and he could see that it was strong and healthy.

"It's such a beautiful sight to behold, isn't it?"

Jill happily nodded at John's observation and grabbed his hand. She led him across the park to a big tree with a wide trunk. "And look at this tree." she said softly, in a sensual tone. Jill walked right up to it and felt the rigid pollen covered wood. She admired its vein-like branches. All of a sudden Jill felt a hand on her back, and before she knew it, John had turned her around and gently guided her back up against the tree. "I love you, Jill." he said. Then he reached in for a kiss.

Without warning, Amanda heard a large clanging sound. She awoke, and sat up straight. Amanda looked around the room, everything appeared to be normal, however, Laura was missing from her bed. Amanda swung her legs around from the bed, planting them on the cold linoleum floor. The clanging sound was still evident. A few seconds would go by, and she would hear the noise again. Amanda walked around the room, trying to find the source of that annoying racket.

All of a sudden she turned around and looked towards the prison bars. Laura was slouched down in the corner, her flip flop in her hand. Amanda could hear a soft sobbing noise was emanating from Laura's body. She heard the noise again. Amanda approached Laura, and as she did she realized the sound got louder. Amanda wished that her eyes had gotten used to the dark a little sooner, because as of yet she couldn't see very well. Amanda again, could hear the noise.

"Let...me...out."

Laura's voice was cracking. As Amanda's eyes began to focus, she realized what was going on. Laura was banging on the bars of their cell with her shoe, delusional with stress. Laura's eyes were stung with fresh tears, while dried ones remained in a trail down to her jaw. Amanda knelt down next to Laura, and petted her hair. "Shh...its okay, everything is going to be fine." Amanda said to her reassuringly. Laura choked on her tears and sat wordlessly as Amanda stroked her hair. "We'll get through this...I promise." Amanda stated to Laura.

Laura could feel how cold Amanda's last sentence was, and her cries erupted into an uproar of sobbing. They both knew that Amanda had no idea how or if they would pull through. Amanda was lying to try to lift Laura's spirits. "Come here..." Amanda said to Laura.

She guided Laura towards her, and sat her on her thigh.

Laura instinctively leaned her head against Amanda's shoulder, like a small child seeking comfort from their mother for a boo-boo. Laura was so distraught. It seemed like she had never experienced hopelessness of this caliber before. That surprised Amanda even more. "You know I never had anything..my parents didn't give me anything...so I had to take it." Said Laura. "Hm...?" Amanda responded, as the sentence Laura had just uttered seemed to only be a piece of the puzzle. "Matthews arrested me for stealing...but...I only did it because I had nothing." Laura explained. Amanda was about to respond, but Laura cut her off mid-breath. "Though I had stolen before...this time, I didn't actually do it!" she exclaimed. Amanda's eyes opened wide; had they both been framed? "You mean to tell me...that you weren't the one who did the crime...?" Amanda uttered curiously. Laura sniffed, trying to hold back tears as she nodded in agreement to Amanda's question. Laura's mind raced back to that moment when she was captured.

Laura sat on the edge of her bed, remote in hand. "No...eh...nope..." she thought contemplatively as she flipped through the channels, trying to find something feasible to watch. She looked down to her bed, noticing that the sheets visibly hadn't been changed in months. Scoffing in disgust at the sheets, she got up, and placed her remote at the top of her TV. She ripped off the bed sheets and threw them to the floor. Tiptoeing around them to make sure she didn't trip, she made her way to the wooden dresser opposite the bed.

With one tug of her arm she pulled the middle drawer all the way out, and it fell to the floor, right before her feet. Laura bent down and retrieved the washed sheets; carelessly tossing them onto the bed. Laura let out a heaving sigh as she turned around towards the bed, ready to dress it in the fresh new sheets. She lived alone, and had little contact with most people. Laura was a recluse and didn't care much about the human race in general, but she was an avid worker. She always dreamed of becoming a CEO of a company. But as her mother told her, Laura's emotions would just get in the way of the job too much.

It's true, Laura's emotions tended to hinder her most of the time, but she couldn't help it. Laura grew up as a poor child in a rich town. She had five brothers and sisters, she was the oldest, and was neglected in order for her mom to take care of her younger siblings. She also grew up in her teenage years without a father, he had walked out on her family when she was only seven. Many stresses in her life made her the person she is today—and also made her weak and prone to stealing. She started the habit in high school, stealing designer wallets filled to the brim with credit cards and hundred dollar bills.

She kept all the wallets, and used the cash she stole to buy new clothes for herself. To this day, nobody has caught her for all the stealing she has done. She is so good at it that she relies on that sole ability to support her. However this day much to her surprise, it all went haywire.

Out of the blue, Laura heard a person rapping loudly on her door with their fist. "Open up, Police." said the person on the other side of the decrepit panel of wood. Laura immediately panicked and started swearing compulsively.

"Fuck...oh god."

Laura slowly crept to the door. "Let us in, or we're going to break the door down." The voice stated. Laura massaged her temple with one hand, and with the other, she gripped the doorknob. She turned it slowly, trying to hold back tears. This was something she simply couldn't handle. A clicking noise was made as the mechanism within unlocked, and the door swung open. The SWAT team commanded by Rigg, rushed into Laura's apartment. They all stepped into the room, aiming their firearms at various corners of Laura's apartment.

She looked on in terror and just wished that it would end. "Clear!" a member of the SWAT team exclaimed moments after entry. Laura propped herself up against a wall as she watched Eric Matthews stride confidently into her apartment. "Well I guess we didn't need the SWAT for this one." he said with a cold, disheartening sneer. Matthew's comment about Laura's weakness was like a spear to the heart, he had been confirming everything she feared. Eric dug deep in his pocket and pulled out a set of cuffs. He threw them to the bed and casually strolled to her dresser.

Upon it were various meaningless items. Most have never been opened, with security devices still attached. "Heh, take her out of here." Matthews said as he laughed to himself, combing through various items.

Rigg came up to Laura, retrieved the cuffs and placed them upon her hands.

She did not struggle physically, but you could see by the look painted on her face, she was struggling on the inside. As Rigg and the SWAT team dispersed in the hallway, Eric reached into his pocket, removing a surgical glove. He put his hand into the glove, and reached back in his pocket again. He looked to and fro to make sure there was nobody watching him, as he slipped a brown paper bag into Laura's waste bin. He completed his task. Eric was almost out of the room but not before he spotted a pink perfume bottle on the nightstand—brand new. Again, Eric checked to see if the coast was clear, and then he pocketed the perfume.

He figured it would be a nice gift for his loved one. Eric smiled to himself, glad for taking this job. At first he thought it might not be a good idea to become a cop—after all, he despised anyone who forced people to be set straight. But he realized all the benefits that would come with the title, and he loved the control and power it entailed. Detective Matthews had always been a man power-hungry, and this job had fed his starvation.

Eric wandered outside, and called to a member of the SWAT team to take a look at the bag. He proceeded walked in, discovered the brown lunch bag in the garbage and unfolded the top of it carefully. Inside was about four dozen counterfeit 100 dollar bills. Detective Matthews faked a look of shock and awe, and the deed was done.

Laura cried and shook uncontrollably after recalling those horrible events. Amanda tried her best to comfort her, but it was little use. "God I'm so damn cold..." Laura said, teeth chattering as she still remained damp from the rain. Amanda frowned at the petite girl's discomfort. "Maybe you should take off your clothes, and wrap yourself in the dry blanket for awhile. At first, Laura shot her a strange look. "What...?" she shot back quizzically. "You know, wrap yourself in something dry. It will absorb any wetness that is still left on your body, and you probably won't feel so cold. Then you can always put your clothes back on after they have dried." She explained.

Laura paused to think about what Amanda had just said. You could hear the gears clicking inside her head. "Oh yeah, thats a good idea...but close your eyes." she retorted. With a light laugh, Amanda nodded her head. Laura walked over to her designated cot and ripped off the sheets. She stripped of her clothing and tossed it to the side, as Amanda faced her head towards the bars. She promised Laura she wouldn't look. Within what seemed like seconds for Laura but minutes for Amanda, the sheet was wrapped securely around Laura's body. "Okay." Laura stated.

Amanda turned around and smiled ever so slightly. "I bet thats better huh?" she commented. "Yeah..it is." Laura responded. Suddenly, the pair could hear the jingling of metal keys hitting one another on a ring off in the distance. They both exchanged confused glances as two dark figures appeared in the room. The person with the slighter figure came up to the cell, and unlocked their cage. Both Laura and Amanda equally confused, were looking to the shadowed person for an answer as to who they were. Then he spoke.

"Amanda, its time."

He grabbed Amanda out of the cell by the wrist and lead her down the hallway, with another figure unrecognizable in the darkness trailing behind her. Laura let out muffled screaming noises, her hand cupped to her mouth in fear. Amanda was lead to the door out of the cells, then she saw light.

Author's Notes: Yay! Second chappie is up. I'm going to say this time, I need three new reviews before I make a new chapter. It's getting busy again, because school is starting up. I won't have as much time to work on this story. But if you guys let me know you like it and drop me a review, I'll try get you new chapters faster!


	3. Chapter 3: Weaving a Web of Lies

Amanda squinted her eyes in pain. She hadn't seen bright fluorescent lights in what seemed like years. Once her eyes adjusted, she saw that it was Matthews who was guiding her by the wrist.

Immediately a feeling of pain sunk in as she recognized her surroundings. His nails were digging into the depths of her smooth skin. She struggled unsuccessfully as he lead her through a series of brightly lit corridors. She writhed left and right, but Matthews's grip stood the test of time.

Instead of protesting, Amanda kept her mouth shut. Maybe I can wriggle away without a sound…she thought defiantly. The odds of her getting away were slim, but as she knew, anything is possible.

Amanda jerked her hands backwards with all the force her small frame could muster. However, this time Matthews noticed Amanda's effort. He turned around and stopped in his tracks. Amanda was still unconsciously walking, and wound up bumping right into him. She could feel his breath on her neck. It was hot and sticky, like a bright summer day.

She cringed in disgust at her close proximity to him, and stepped away. She did not want to raise her head, she was afraid he would have a menacing look on his face. Amanda bit her lip in anticipation of incoming physical pain. However, this time Matthews just sloughed off her attempt and kept on moving. Shocked at his mercy, she finally exhaled.

Amanda gradually picked up her head and studied the rooms she was passing. She noticed a woman with a very slight figure was following both Matthews and Amanda. She had a strikingly attractive face, arched eyebrows, and dark green eyes. Her intensively curly hair rested just below the shoulder.

She ran her fingers through her kinky locks as she walked; 5-6 manila folders cradled in her right arm. Facing forward, Amanda then realized that she was reaching a dead end. Matthews lead her into a white room, with a mirror on the left wall. A table and two chairs were located inside. Matthews pulled out the chair on the wall opposite the mirror, and gestured to Amanda to sit down.

Amanda settled herself in the spot, as Matthews left the room. The woman who had been closely following them before had now made a re-appearance in the interrogation room. The woman watched Matthews casually stroll out the door into the hall in admiration.

Puzzled, Amanda played with the chains of cuffs she wore, shaking them up and down to observe the sound they made. Among the sounds of metal chains clinking together, Amanda heard the sounds of footsteps, she looked up to find the woman approaching the door.

Amanda squirmed in her seat as she watched the woman close it, leaving them alone. "Okay Amanda..." the woman muttered contemplatively as she studied the various folders she held in front of her eyes. She approached the table, pulled out the unoccupied chair, and took a seat. A glint caught Amanda's eye. She looked down at the woman's suit jacket pocket. Upon it was a police ID, it detailed that the woman was refered to as Detective Kerry. Her eye color, hair color, ID number and ethnicity were also listed on the laminated tag.

"So Amanda, when did the deal go down."

Kerry said to her, half attentive, half still thinking of Eric Matthews. Amanda's eyes widened in shock at Kerry's question. Frantically, she thought of what to say.

Anything, just say anything...the longer you are quiet, the more she will be suspicious!

Kerry tapped her nails on the table in anticipation of an answer. Make a damn sound already, I don't have all day... Then Kerry felt relief as she saw Amanda start to speak.

"It...didn't...happen."

In response to Amanda's statement; Detective Kerry furrowed her eyebrow and looked over Amanda's file yet again. "Well, it says right here that Detective Matthews pulled a clear sample off of the syringe found in your drawer...So it must have been you." Kerry said with a slight frown. Amanda's gaze fell to the floor, as she pondered her next response.

"I could never do that--after all Brian has been through." she trailed off. Kerry shot her a concerned look. Before Amanda knew it, she fell victim to her emotions and began weeping. Amanda wiped the excess tears on her sleeve and propped up her elbows on the table. She placed her handcuffed hands in front of her face in an effort to conceal her overwrought feelings.

Kerry was no fool however; she could tell that Amanda was hysterical with grief. "Oh Amanda...its okay...just tell me the truth." Kerry said soothingly as she lifted a hand onto Amanda's shoulder. She looked up at Kerry and observed the compassionate look in her eyes. Amanda then tried to chase away the tears.

"Tell me everything."

At that command, Amanda pulled her shoulder away from Kerry's reach and once again dropped her gaze to the floor. "No." Amanda said stubbornly like a small child. Abruptly, a banging sound was heard coming from the other side of the mirror. Both Kerry and Amanda jarred in their seats in response to the unexpected noise. Two consecutive slamming noises were heard following the opening of the door to the room both Kerry and Amanda resided in. Detective Matthews entered in a furor; his teeth gritting and fists clenching. Kerry sat still as he approached the both of them.

"What the hell is going on here Kerry? Just get the information out of her already!"

Matthews spoke feverishly, growing more impatient by the second. Amanda's left eyebrow rose to the top of her forehead in sheer confusion. Detective Matthews ran his fingers through his hair as he repeatedly told himself to calm down. It appeared as something had gone unsaid. Matthews was trying to control his anger, unlike before. _Maybe Rigg had told him a thing or two..._ Amanda thought. Kerry observed that Amanda was experiencing some deep thinking, and tried to interrupt her. Kerry saw how Amanda's stubborn behavior was negatively affecting him, so she tried once more to squeeze something out of Amanda.

"Look, we don't have much time. Just tell me what happened with the drugs."

Amanda looked intently at Kerry once she finished talking, and stood up from the table placing her palms on its surface. Kerry jolted backward in her chair as a reflex to Amanda's quick motion. Amanda directed her gaze right at Detective Matthews, who was watching the event from the corner of the room.

"I didn't do ANY drugs, this is all some kind of mistake!"

Amanda wailed as she spoke, her voice shaking with every word. Matthews could feel the anger boiling in his veins like hot water. Detective Matthews rolled up his sleeves, and lunged for Amanda. Before they knew it, his hands were tightly wrapped around Amanda's neck.

Kerry cringed at Matthews's sick behavior, as Amanda tried to claw him out of her way. Kerry looked on in fear as Amanda struggled to breathe. Several seconds passed before Matthews uttered a word.

"Tell her now, or you'll _die_."

Matthews intensified his grip on her neck for emphasis. Amanda let out a small sound, and Matthews released his grip. Detective Matthews angrily thrust out the vacant chair from underneath the table, and Amanda sat herself down.

_Great, now as long as I want to stay alive, I have to pretend I'm really a junkie. _

Amanda sighed as she began to fabricate a story. "It was one of Brian's Dad's buddies." Amanda lied. With that sentence the entire room fell silent.

"He came over one night, pulled out his stash and let me try a bit of it. He told me that if I tried it once no harm would be done. However what actually went on after I tried Heroin for the first time wasn't as he had said. I was on withdrawl, waking up in the middle of the night coated in a layer of cold sweat, shaking as if I had just seen something awful. I needed my fix. So I called up the guy and made the deal with him...Thats how it went." Amanda detailed.

Kerry nodded in acknowledgement, and picked through a manila folder that lie in her lap. She brought out 5 Polaroid style pictures of five different people. "Do you recognize any of these individuals as your dealer?" questioned Kerry. Amanda looked at the set of pictures placed before her.

_Oh just perfect, now I have to get someone else involved in this mess._

With that tought, looked up and put her finger down on a random picture. She heard Kerry taking the rest of the pictures and shoving them back into the manila folder. When Amanda looked down to see who she had chosen, it was a Latino man seemingly in his early 30s. He was extremely physically fit, and he had a dominative, menacing air to him. A very serious expression was painted across his face; and he had thick black eyebrows with a shaved head.

"I'd recognize him anywhere."

Amanda embellished the story reluctantly, all while trying to make it sound more convincing. Detective Matthews came over to the table, picked up the picture staring at it for several seconds. "Rigg, get over here." said Matthews. Within seconds, Officer Rigg appeared in the doorway, his gaze asphyxiated on Matthews. Matthews looked to Rigg and addressed him.

"Rigg we need to remember this face. He is the next guy we have to go after."

Amanda began to cry again; not because she was sad, but because she realized that she had just sealed the fate of an individual like her--one that was wrongfully accused. She felt as if she had now played the part of Detective Matthews in framing that man to be the dealer. She felt ashamed of her behavior it was unexplainable. It was as if she had just been sucked into a black hole. Nobody was standing up for her...and all she could do was sit still, play nice, and try to stay unconscious of what was going on to ease the pain.

Amanda then heard a screeching noise, which brought her back to the notion of where she was. Kerry got up from her chair and slid it back, making the same screeching noise Amanda has heard previous. Matthews and Rigg were out of the line of sight, probably trying to catch the man that she had identified. Amanda looked around for a sign as to where she was going next.

All she saw was Detective Kerry staring at her chocolate brown eyes. "Lets go." Kerry stated. She approached Amanda and pulled out her chair half lifting Amanda out of her seat. Amanda was very diminuitive compared to Kerry. Kerry was both physically and mentally strong, a complete opposite to Amanda's unstability. Before she knew it, Amanda was back out into the hall, mindlessly following Kerry's countless footsteps. As they were walking, Kerry's facial expression showed contemplation. Once Kerry was done with her thought, she addressed Amanda.

"Amanda, we are bringing you to the county jail."

Kerry spoke softly, informing Amanda of where she would be residing. Amanda felt the tears welling up in her eyes, but tried her best to hold them back. Crying wouldn't save her now. "But...why jail so soon?" Amanda remarked. Instantly after Amanda's question, the detective slowed her pace.

Eventually, Kerry stopped in her tracks, and turned around to face Amanda. "Since you can't post bail, you are going to have to stay in jail until your trial." She responded. Amanda's heart instantly sank, and then there was a brief pause of complete silence. Amanda's gaze fell to the floor yet again, and Kerry took it as a sign that Amanda was ready to progress.

The 2 person train continued all the way to the front double doors of the precinct, where Amanda was placed inside the back of Kerry's cop car. Kerry drove out of the city and onto the highway, eventually to the jail house. The entire ride was completely silent, except for a few murmurs from Kerry and some quiet moans of painful grief coming from Amanda. It took hours for the pair to reach the main gates of the jail.

As Kerry pulled in, Amanda watched in horror as she saw the tall black barred gates coming towards her. Her whole body shook in nervousness as Kerry put down the window.

All of a sudden, Amanda felt a burst of energy and a rush of adreniline. Without thinking she used all her force and pried on the doorhandle of the old cop car. Kerry twisted around in the drivers seat and tried to stop her; but she couldn't. Amanda was free.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little short, schools started and I've become busy again. I've had a lot of projects and homework to do lately, so this chapter was a little delayed. I might have a little more time to work on it now though. As always, comments and criticism are welcome with open arms. I'd always like to know there is enough intrest in this story for me to feel motivated to write another chapter.


	4. Chapter 4: A Smaller Size

Panting heavily, Amanda darted away from the tall black gates. The monochrome tones of the entire building scared her, and she felt it was best for her well-being to try to get away. She was running as fast as she could; making sure to stop for no distraction.

Her feet were pounding on the black pavement hard, and it was sheer luck there were no cars on the road. Kerry was running close behind, and after her were a half dozen of unfit guard-cops wheezing as they went along. _Must have been all the donuts_…Amanda thought as she smirked to herself. She kept running along, she hadn't been caught yet.

Everything was happening so quickly. Seconds later, she found her self airborne.

"Nooo! SHIT!"

Amanda had tripped on a manhole cover and landed face first on the pavement. She tried to brace herself with her hands midair but she didn't have enough upper body strength. She couldn't hold herself up before she hit the ground. Wearily, she got up and put her hands to her face.

She could feel a long stream of blood starting from her upper lip and extending towards her chin. Amanda rubbed it off with the side of her hand, and looked down at it. Her blood was a dark red color and had a viscous sticky texture. With her fingertips, she went over the parts of her body that stung in pain.

Not only was the blood on the side of her hand, but it was dribbling off the bottom of her lip, scattered across her knees, elbows and lastly it was across the bridge of her nose. She had really scraped herself bad in a number of places.

Amanda licked the blood off her fingers in a feeble attempt to get rid of any evidence. She then looked backward to see Kerry. It didn't take long for Kerry to catch up with her.

After Amanda assessed the damages she saw Kerry approach her. Kerry came in contact with Amanda by grabbing her bloodied arm and yanking her away from the manhole. Kerry threw the folder she was carrying on the floor, right next to a small pool of Amanda's blood. Kerry pulled Amanda up to her line of sight, and narrowed her eyes to convey a point.

"We can play nice if you will cooperate. However if you pull another stunt like this, things may have to get _rough_ around here."

Amanda's head sunk into her shoulders in disappointment. Ugh...That can't be good…Amanda had never thought fearfully of Kerry before, but the way she emphasized the word "rough" was scaring her. Kerry would not let go of her arm. Instead, Kerry reached inside a messenger bag she had been carrying and pulled out what looked like a red plastic lunchbox. When Kerry opened it, it was obvious that it had been a first aid kit.

Kerry treated Amanda's wounds with antibacterial cream and bandages until every cut was covered in some way. Amanda watched silent as Kerry cured her boo boos like a mother taking care of their small child. Once Kerry was done helping Amanda, she put her supplies back into the bag. Kerry held on tightly to Amanda's arm ensuring she wouldn't escape again. Finally the unfit cops caught up.

The cops made a tight circle around Amanda, and grabbed her by her limbs. The cops to her right grabbed her right arm, and the cops to the left grabbed her left arm. When Kerry released her grip on Amanda, she looked down to see that Kerry's nails had made an imprint in Amanda's skin. The men scoffed at Amanda for falling as they hoisted her up on top of their shoulders.

The men were significantly taller than Amanda, so her feet were dangling in the air. She kicked them forcefully, trying to make a racket. However, _any_ sound, any movement, any gesture was immediately ignored.

She huffed in frustration, then whipped her head around quickly and saw Kerry following in their tracks. The papers she had before from the manila folder were now quite dirty, covered in Amanda's blood and black marks from the fresh pavement.

Kerry looked like a mess, with Amanda's blood strewn across the front of her blazer. As the men carried her past the black iron gates, Amanda's heart sank again. She kicked and screamed all the way to the front door.

As they approached the steps, Amanda saw something. Behind the 10 foot gates surrounding the grounds, she could hear the clanking sound of metal. Puzzled, Amanda yanked in the directions of the gates, trying to find out what was there. Her movement caught the men off guard as they were talking to Kerry, and they gave her a little leeway.

They gave her just enough wiggle room to see what was behind those black bars. Amanda saw several burly women lifting weights and smoking cigarettes behind the multiple gates. The women looked so tough and weathered; like they had been through the most stressful things you've ever heard of. As Amanda intently watched the inmates exercise with intimidation, Kerry was telling the guards how to handle Amanda.

"She's very small, but she can pack a large punch as you can see by that chase. You're going to have to restrain her until she reaches her cell, make sure she doesn't come in contact with Eric. He's in the third room in the offices straightening out some cases. For some reason she brings out the worst in Eric; things can get _ugly_. That is as much as I know about her. Good luck and thank you for your cooperation."

All of a sudden Amanda sensed movement. The men had opened the doors of the jail and were bringing her inside. She looked back to see the place she was leaving, and spotted Kerry walking away from the building.

"_DON'T_ leave me here! You just can't do this to me!"

She screamed in anger as she tried to break away from her captors. Kerry turned around and looked on at the scene in despair. Kerry didn't really know how or why, but she believed that Amanda was actually innocent. Kerry then pondered why she would think in such a way about the obviously rebellious Amanda Young.

_People always tell me I'm too lenient...that has got to be why I'm feeling this way...  
_

Kerry stroked her bottom lip with her index finger as she found herself deep in thought on the matter. Kerry walked away from the jail. Kerry focused her attention towards getting to her car instead of the sad display of Amanda's struggle to cooperate with authority. Amanda's voice trailed off as the men took her deep inside the building.

They took her past the offices quickly where Amanda heard several people laughing about something. She recognized one of the laughs in that crowd; but she couldn't exactly pick out who it was. She tried to think of any possibilities.

_Could that be Brian!? Maybe he's coming to take me away; to save me!_

However Amanda's thoughts were far from correct as to who was actually there. Amanda reached her feet towards the ground, her arms above her shoulders attempting to stop the men. She was dragging her heels and creating resistance; so the men stopped to try to figure out what she was doing.

She had successfully got the men to stop in her tracks. As they were figuring out what to do with her, Amanda began investigation on who was in the room. Amanda squinted in an effort of making the figures inside the room clearer. After her eyes focused, she saw that one of the men inside the room had been Eric Matthews.

Before long; Eric looked up and met eyes with Amanda. As soon as their gaze met all hell broke loose.

Amanda's legs were flailing in the air, trying to get out of the cop's grip once more. She judged that Eric would come out of the room and hit her within only a few seconds, and her only hope was to get away. After a few attempts she realized the men were simply too strong; so she tried something else.

"Get me out of here! Quick, before he finds me!"

But that didn't work either. It took too long for the dumbfounded guards to dissect the sentence and figure out what Amanda was talking about. Soon after Amanda's rant; Eric walked out of the room and stood in its doorway. Matthews was staring at Amanda but did not utter a word. Amanda muttered something unintelligible under her breath. Matthews analyzed it and picked out the words he could decipher from it.

"Don't look at me...Ignore me..._Ignore_ me…"

_Ignore me…? Why would I pay attention to a stupid bitch like that!_ Matthews thought after he figured out what she was muttering. Smirking at Amanda's obvious fear of him; Matthews retreated back into the room. The smell of fear was enough to quench his thirst for power. The guards holding Amanda exchanged glances and continued on throughout the hallway.

"…GET ME OUT! Don't you see!? He's going to get a weapon!"

Neurotically, Amanda flung herself backwards. She truly thought that Matthews was going to bring out a weapon and start hitting, stabbing, or shooting her with it. The deep seated fear of Eric's beatings was far from over despite the fact it's been a long time since he touched her. It was comparable to the fear she had for her Dad when Amanda was still living in her parents house. Finally the guards put two and two together and started walking faster.

They finally remembered what Kerry had told them. Amanda was simply relieved that the guards were picking up speed. Eventually the hallway and the room with Matthews in it disappeared into the distance. Amanda could finally breathe. Soon they reached the actual cells of the jail house where women were held captive.

Next to a row of jail cells was a room enclosed by four walls and double doors with two small frosted windows on the top of them. One of the guards released Amanda from her cuffs and threw a set of orange clothes at her. The other unlocked the double doors and pushed Amanda inside. Once Amanda was inside, she could sense she was the only one there.

Sounds of dripping water could be heard from wall to wall wherever she went. There were several showers; benches within them. Amanda inched over to the first shower and put the set of clothes down on the iron bench level with her knees. She turned around in order to look for curtains but she found none. She hesitated confusedly as she surveyed what she found.

Instead of a curtain, there were a number of shower curtain rings with bits of tattered plastic curtain still sticking to them. Amanda stuck her head out and examined the rest of the showers in the row. All of them either had rings with bits of shower curtain or no rings at all. Amanda cautiously slid behind the tiled shower beam out of sight and began to change into the orange uniform. First, she picked up the shirt.

She turned it around and saw that it had the numbers "07453922" printed in black ink on the back. She tried it on and assessed the feeling of the shirt. It was baggy to say the least. The neck opening was gigantic, and the point of the "V" neck extended past her sternum. The sleeves went past her fingertips and most of her shoulders could be seen. It fit her exactly like Brian's dress shirt. Revealing in just the right places to be enticing; giving Amanda that sultry appearance Brian adored so much.

Amanda wiped away tears with her new shirt. She couldn't help but think of Brian after finding out how much that shirt had been like Brian's. But what possessed them to give her a shirt that is obviously too big for her? Amanda concluded that either they had given her the wrong size; or this was all they had left. She then put on the pants.

They were equally as baggy as the shirt. The waistband was terribly huge so the band rested just on the top of her hipbones. However the band completely fell off her butt revealing her thong she had put on days ago for Brian. Had she wore a shirt appropriate for her size and height those pants would have left her midsection bare. The legs of the pants completely covered her feet, useless fabric laid bunched up upon her ankles and on the tiled floor. She couldn't even see her toes.

After she was dressed, she picked up the clothes she was wearing beforehand and headed out the double doors, tripping on her pants as she walked. When she got out the door, the guards turned around to see if she had changed. For several moments they did not speak as they observed her. Then all of a sudden one guard spoke to the other.

"I think she needs an undershirt..."

Amanda blushed in reaction to their conversation. It was true, she'd need to cover up. The neckline was so deep on the shirt that you could see things that are normally supposed to be covered up by jail regulation clothing. The guards laughed at Amanda's baggy attire; and then put Amanda's cuffs back on.

"We're going to see if we can get you an undershirt and a good pair of underpants—or better yet a smaller size."

One of the guards told her where he was going to go to get the new clothing as he stifled a chuckle. Another took the clothes she was holding and cracked open an empty cell. Amanda reluctantly shuffled inside it, and the guard holding her clothes locked it with a rather old rusty key.

Mentally, Amanda took notes on the appearance of the key if she had needed it in the future. Moments after she was settled in the cell, she heard the door of the jail house lock. Amanda was alone yet again.


	5. Chapter 5: The New Kid

Amanda wrapped her fingers around the cold black bars and observed the woman across from her cell. She was staring absentmindedly at the wall with an angry look on her face.

This frightened Amanda enough to look for something else to do. She studied the contents of the cell. It was dirty, dank and cold; just like the cell she had shared with Laura. Two bunk beds flanked the walls, and a grungy toilet against the back wall.

Amanda sat herself down on the bunk bed adjacent to the right wall. She found herself in quite a lonely existence.

"_Damn_, I wish I had someone to share this shit hole with."

Amanda picked up the top sheet of the bed with her hand and examined it. The fabric was rather thin and starchy. Amanda noted this would not be sufficient on those cold winter nights. Then she looked to the pillow.

She punched it with her fist to see how firm it was. It wasn't in the least bit firm. It was like a potato sack with balls of bunched up cotton in random places all throughout the inside of the pillow. She could sense her life here wasn't going to be that comfortable, and with Matthews the well respected cop framing her; there is little chance she'll get out scotch free.

"Matthews probably has something _brutal_ set up for me."

Amanda was talking to herself, trying to cancel out the uneasiness of the tiny cell. Ever since she was a child she struggled with claustrophobia. Her father used to lock her in a closet under the stairs whenever she did something he deemed wrong. He'd often lock her in there for hours at a time.

Sometimes her absence would go unnoticed for as much as an entire day. Amanda's mother worked constantly to keep the house as her father lived in it unemployed. Her mother was mostly unaware of the abusive situation her father dealt to her. Amanda was the oldest, so she was the least worried about in the family.

She had three younger siblings that her mother was busy with. Amanda rarely was able to take care of herself; she was either helping the babies or doing chores. In that one small moment where she had some time to herself; she tried to get some sleep. She never had good grades, and didn't even graduate from high school because she had to be taking care of the family most of the time.

She had no time to study for tests or do homework. Everything about this cell reminded her of her past life. It was enclosed, dirty, unkempt, and she was alone within it. She hated this jail cell more than any other place she had ever been to.

Amanda had been in the holding cell previous, but the prefix "holding" was enough to soothe her. She knew it meant she wouldn't be there forever. However Jail is a completely different situation all-together. Jail could mean life sentences, death penalties, or a sentence of so many years that you would never be able to live through it entirely. Also the uncanny resemblance to that room under the stairs was haunting.

_It wouldn't be as haunting if someone else was here with me..._

That thought brought her back to the memories of Amanda's time in the holding cell with Laura. Though Laura felt alone, she was soothed by Amanda's presence. Amanda also took equal comfort in Laura, and that is what Amanda missed most.

She could not get her mind off of Laura now, she was missing how much better things were when she was in the holding cell. As her mind wandered, a group of guards were fiddling with the lock on the jail house door. Eventually with a click and a push, the door was open and the guards were out into cell's hallway.

Around 4 guards entered, three restraining a svelte blond girl who was dressed for a night on the town. Amanda looked up from the bed, and rushed to the bars to see what was going on. Amanda coiled her fingers around the cold black bars as her eyes darted from the guards to the girl they were holding. She noticed the girl's blond wavy hair, and immediately made a connection.

"LAURA! ITS ME!"

Amanda addressed the woman in excitement as she saw the similarities between her and Laura. One of the guards took the woman to the cell opposite Amanda's cell. Most of the guards disregarded what Amanda had said except for one. That one guard turned around and looked at Amanda, observing her unkempt appearance and saggy unfitting clothes.

He seemed slightly intrigued with her, as he clutched another orange uniform under his arm. Amanda spotted a name embroidered in gold on his dress shirt. It read "Peter". Amanda noticed that the man had strikingly attractive features to him.

His uniform was clean and pressed like he had ironed it. Amanda judged by this that it had been his first day if not first week on the job. For some reason Amanda could not put a finger on, Peter looked rather out of place in this dump. Amanda's focus then shifted to the woman. As the guards locked the woman in, she vanished into the depths of the cell wordlessly.

"Why would they put Laura in that cell with that _angry_ woman? She doesn't deserve it..."

After Amanda uttered that sentence, the woman addressed her. Once she walked back towards the cell's bars it was obvious that it was not Laura. Amanda's heart sank as she met eyes with the woman.

"My name isn't Laura, it's Brenda."

Amanda exhaled in disappointment at Brenda's remark. She released her grip from the bars and instantly lost interest in the events that took place outside her cell. She slouched down upon the wall and slid to the floor, sitting arms and legs crossed in a saddened state.

Staring at the wall opposite her, she itched the back of her neck where months ago a necklace that Brian had given her rest. It was as if a part of her was missing without that jewelry. All of a sudden Amanda heard a slight clanging noise.

She lifted her head and saw Peter standing above her just outside the cell. Instantly he looked at her hands and realized that they had still been cuffed.

"Let me fix you up..."

The man opened up the cell using a ring of various keys and then knelt down in front of Amanda. With a very small key he unlocked her cuffs and hooked them onto his belt loop. Amanda looked like a small child, hunch backed up against the wall in the fetal position. For this reason Peter took pity upon her. He took the bundle of clothes from underneath his arm and set them in her lap as she looked up at him bleary eyed.

"Take the clothes that your wearing now and put them by the edge of the cell door when your done changing into the new set I gave you. I'll be back for them shortly."

With that Peter closed the cell door behind him and walked out the jail house doors accompanied by the rest of the guards. Amanda tossed the bundle of new clothes on to her decrepit cot and continued to stare at the wall. She felt as if there was a giant void in her life, she could sense her inner self being ripped apart at the seams. Then she spotted it from the corner of the room.

A glass shard was situated in the middle of the floor staring back at Amanda with a devious glint. On hand and foot she crawled towards the shard, not even feeling as if she could control her own body. Senselessly she picked up the shard between her index and thumb finger.

Immediately blood started dripping onto the cold concrete floor as Amanda slowly guided the shard across the top of her wrist. The blood pooled against one post of the cot as she continued on without thinking. Her mind was blank, her movements took over any reasoning she had left within her.

She was hyperventilating loudly and crying continuously. Any movement or sounds other than those emanating from herself were exaggerated and less intently focused upon than when Amanda had spotted the Laura look alike. The shard had reached the end of her wrist and successfully left a large red streak upon her.

Once she had tossed the shard to the side, moments of happier times with Brian raced through her mind. Temporarily, she felt at home. Soon after, a feeling of regret sunk in, and she collapsed to the floor sobbing. That was the last thing she remembered.

Amanda woke in the same cell she had been in before, however her wrist had been bandaged and wrapped in gauze. She looked to her right. Amanda's fingers graced the floor's surface as she looked for clues as to what had happened.

She found quickly that the pool of blood next to the post had vanished. There was a shiny spot on the floor where the blood had once been. She got back on her hands and feet again, and decided to stand up to take a good look around.

The glass shard was missing from the room as well. Frantically, Amanda searched for the glass. She wanted to keep it.

However, her efforts to find the shard were unsuccessful. Once she had given up, she noticed the clothes she was wearing had a lot less give. Whoever came to clean her up must have dressed her in the new clothes that guard had handed her before. Amanda approached the door and glanced out from between the black bars. She saw a figure hovering in the hallway, dressed in the blue uniform.

As she looked closely, she saw it was Peter.

_But…why would he help me?_

She couldn't figure out why the man had been so nice to her. She knew next to nothing about him, but from what she saw he didn't exactly seem like a compassionate being. He was observing Amanda as she noticed her surroundings beforehand; he had been there the whole time. Amanda walked up to the gates and met eyes with Peter. He then spoke.

"The others are out lifting weights. Do you think you're well enough to go join them?"

Peter juggled a set of keys in his hand as he asked her why she had hurt herself with the glass. Amanda shifted her head from side to side, indicating she didn't have an answer for him.

"Why don't you go outside, and get a little air? Sounds good?"

Amanda reluctantly nodded and watched as the guard unlocked her cage. Awkwardly, Amanda's eyes darted from the lock to Peters hand's as he fumbled with the key. Eventually the key made contact with the lock. In it went, but the lock wouldn't budge.

The guard jiggled the key until the lock finally gave way. The gate swung open. Now there were no barriers between Peter and Amanda. Amanda shot Peter a clueless look and he motioned her out of the cell. She stepped just out of the cell, and Peter retreated behind her to close the cage.

Then Peter approached a large metal door that read "Fire Exit Only". With little effort, the man pushed on the door and it flung open. Once they were outside, Peter went back through the door and locked it. Amanda jumped in shock as she heard the door slam shut.

Trying to forget the memory of Peter, Amanda observed her surroundings. In front of her were several women, some sitting on sets of bleachers, while the rest of them worked out. Amanda never worked out in her life, she never needed to. Ever since she was a small child she had remained skinny.

She didn't see the reason to gain muscle. Seeing no need for working out, Amanda approached the benches. She sat down on the lowest bench. It had no people sitting on it at the time, and that's how she liked it. Lately something was changing in her. Ever since Amanda realized she would never see Laura again, she wanted to cut off all ties with humans in general. Laura's absence was the last straw. She wanted to be as secluded as possible. Out of reach, out of range, she would love it if she was just invisible.

Amanda picked her head up. She was getting eye strain from staring at the floor for too long. Amanda looked around and saw a dark patch to her right. There was a large concrete balcony above it, creating that dark shadow.

_Perfect, nobody will ever notice me if I go in there._

Amanda approached it, and was shocked as to what she saw. Within the shadows of that balcony, a secret operation was taking place. She froze up, unable to get any closer. Hoping nobody would notice her presence, she stood as still and quiet as possible. Unfortunately for Amanda, she was noticed. A weathered looking woman with red hair and a tattoo on her right arm addressed her.

"Get out of here…unless you want some."

In one hand the woman held a plastic bag of syringes. They were dirtied, and had appeared to be used several times. In the other hand she held a wad of crinkled bills. On her shoulder was a cheap old feed bag, and within it were various assorted items. They seemed to be jail rations.

"So what the hells the deal? You buyin' or not?"

Amanda stood wordless in front of the woman. She wanted to tell her she wasn't into that kind of thing, but on the other hand she was afraid of the adverse reaction to her not conforming.

"I-I-I'm new here."

Amanda stuttered with uncertainty, she did not want to be involved at all, but she didn't want to upset the burly woman. The woman cast a smirk upon her face, and then the wrapping on Amanda's wrist caught her eye. She studied Amanda's bandages intently. The red head spotted a small spot of dried blood located on the underside of her wrist. After that discovery, her grin grew even larger.

"Oh, gotcha. Here, first ones on me."

With that sentence, the redhead shoved one of the syringes in Amanda's hand. It had some kind of suspicious looking substance within it, obviously some kind of illegal drug.

"Well what are you waiting for kid? Shoot up!"

Amanda looked at the syringe helplessly. She tilted her head back up at the woman and shot her a confused look. The only type of "drug" Amanda had ever done was smoking, and some casual drinking. She never got too involved however. She was too busy.

"I've never done this…"

With Amanda's comment, the red headed woman laughed heartily. The woman's friends, obviously paying attention to the situation were also laughing.

"Here kid."

The woman grabbed Amanda's arm, and looked for a vein. Her eyes wandered around the crease of her arm, and spotted a blue spot. She took the syringe from Amanda's shaking hands. Once the syringe was out of her palms and her control, Amanda tried to struggle away from the woman.

"Hold still, fuck! I'm try'na help you get away from all that cuttin'."

Eventually Amanda gave up, and the syringe had been inserted into her vein. The woman pushed the top of the syringe down, and Amanda watched the liquid lower in the plastic casing. Once all the liquid had vanished, Amanda felt a strange feeling come over her.

Amanda slid down against the wall to a sitting position. Her lids lowered, the redhead and her companions becoming fuzzy before her eyes. All of a sudden, a feeling of sheer euphoria came upon her. It rushed up and sneaked up on her without any warning. Several minutes passed as she sat stagnant. After she enjoyed the rush, she decided she wanted something to drink. She grabbed the redheads pant leg and tried to talk to her.

"Water…?"

The woman laughed in her face, and walked forward. Amanda could not keep her grip, so she gave up. The euphoric rush was almost gone. Amanda felt around on the ground for any type of wet substance. Her mouth was ridiculously dry, and her skin felt warm. Had she been able to look in a mirror she probably would have appeared flushed.

Unexpectedly her extremities grew weak. It felt as if someone had tied a heavy weight to all her fingers and toes. Amanda felt horrible after the rush. She couldn't move. For some reason, her breathing became erratic, and then she blacked out.


	6. Chapter 6: Anticipation and Tribulation

Amanda woke in the same spot she had begun yesterday's escapade in. A feeling of déjà vu came over her as she lifted her head from the cot's starchy pillow. Her temples were pounding as she furrowed her eyebrows in frustration from the pain. Along with this feeling of intense pain, there was that same void inside of her, needing to be filled. However today, this craving was begging to be satisfied—more so than ever before.

_But with what…? Think, what had filled this void temporarily…_

Then it dawned on her. Bits and pieces of memories from the previous day were recalled in her mind. But what was that substance the redheaded woman injected into her vein? She couldn't recall its name.

_It began with an H…ended with an N..._

"Heroin."

Amanda whipped around and saw Brenda standing right before the gate of her cell. It was Brenda who uttered the name of the drug that had quenched Amanda's depression. Amanda smirked slightly at Brenda, and nodded in appreciation. Brenda nodded in response, and slipped back into the dark part of her cell. Sadly for Amanda, it was now decided Heroin would be the source of her happiness in this depressing environment.

For months, the same day repeated over and over. She'd go out for recess, find the shady spot, and exchange something for the drug. Sometimes it was jail rations, sometimes money she had stolen from other jail members, and sometimes sexual favors. The sexual favors were the worst thing she had done. Amanda was straight, and never could picture herself with a woman. However because of the situation she was in she had to commit to doing things with those who were not straight like her.

Amanda felt as if she had to do them, because she knew if she didn't get the drug, she would go out of her mind. Each day after Amanda got her fix outside, Peter would return her to her cell, and clean her up. However, one day Peter informed her of her trial date. She decided it would be best to not be hopped up on Heroin during the trial. So she stopped cold turkey.

Those few days before the trial were the worst, Amanda experienced intense withdrawal. She couldn't sleep, she tossed and turned in bed, pain radiated throughout her body, and was desperate to drive away the craving. All she could think about was shooting up.

Monday, the day right before the trial, Amanda sat upright in her bed, thinking about how to drive her mind away from thoughts of shooting up. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for an activity to distract her. All she saw was the toilet, the bars, and the other cot adjacent to hers. Then something caught her eye. The lid of the toilet situated in the cell was chipped. Noticing this, she formulated a plan.

Cautiously, Amanda walked over to the toilet, and removed its porcelain lid. The minute she did so, a bit of toilet water squirted on to her shirt. Apparently there was some kind of pipe leakage in the system which caused a spritz of water to make contact with her clothes. Disregarding the stain, Amanda stared down at the lid. It was rather heavy and was made of a very cheap type of porcelain; the type that breaks easily.

With one movement, the toilet lid had shattered into a thousand pieces. Amanda heard some cell mates scream from the sound, and some just jumped and stared at the scene in awe. Amanda paid no attention to the convict's comments. With her boot, she shoved all the pieces to the left side of the toilet, up against a wall. She knelt before them and picked through several of the shards, in attempt to locate the sharpest. She wound up picking a very long shard that had a dagger-like appearance and a shockingly sharp point.

Hands shaking, she rose from the floor with the shard clasped tightly in her hand. She walked to her bed, and fell upon it. Instantly she brought the shard to her previously uncut wrist, cutting her flesh with it innumerable times. Her breath was scattered, and often incomplete. The blood flowed freely onto her sheets, and the mere sight of the gore was enough to settle her stomach. Amanda began to recall all the good memories she has had as she succumbed to the feeling of release. She took a deep breath as she observed the scene.

The porcelain shard stood alone on her pillow, its ends covered in the sticky red substance. Amanda shook her pillow out of her pillow case expeditiously, down feathers floating above her head. Amid the mostly white feathers, there were some tarnished with Amanda's blood. As soon as the pillowcase was free, she wrapped her wrist in it several times, and tied a knot to secure it in place. She made the knot tight. If she had made the dressing loose on her skin, blood would pour out in gracious amounts.

The tighter the bondage, the better the circulation is cut off, restricting the blood from coming through. Usually Amanda would not care at all if she bled everywhere, but she felt bad that Peter had been constantly cleaning up her messes and mopping her cell's sodden floors. This little gesture might save Peter time cleaning up.

Ruefully, Amanda took glanced back at her bed. The covers were half torn off; the top sheet sat limp and lifeless on the floor. The pillow was off to the side, covered abundantly in red and white feathers. The cot's makeshift mattress was askew on the bed's frame, jutting away from the wall. Amanda started to shake and cry uncontrollably as she recounted the moments that had taken place before. All of a sudden Amanda heard patterned footsteps. She recognized them instantly.

"You look rather…unstable."

"Unstable" was too broad of a word for her current emotional health, as Amanda described to Peter with the look in her eyes. Tear-soaked, Amanda ran to the cage and slipped her hands through the bars, grasping towards Peter.

"Help…Me…"

Amanda fell to her knees sobbing. Taking pity on her, Peter sighed as he fished his keys out of his pocket. Amanda's cries grew louder with every second Peter took trying to find the right key and wiggling it in the lock. Finally with a large metallic sounding click, the jail door swung open. Peter stumbled in; Amanda was still on the floor, her shirt wet with a mix of blood and tears. Peter rushed to Amanda's side and swept her up into his arms. Her small frame and emotional status lead Peter to mistake her for a young child, _his_ young child. The others in the jail looked on the scene as they scowled in jealousy of Peter's attention towards Amanda. Peter brushed back the hair from Amanda's face and wiped her tears away. Then a conversation began.

"Don't cry…"

"I'm not trying to…"

"Okay…well don't fret, your almost through."

"I-I-I'm sorry…Peter."

"Sorry for what?"

Amanda heaved in a huge sigh, sniffled a bit and tried to catch her breath. She looked into Peter's iridescent blue eyes. They were fixated on her, and they conveyed a sense of worry. That just killed her.

"For making this mess…for making you clean up after me…I'm sorry for…everything. I don't think I'm strong enough for this…"

Peter stared at Amanda, eyes wide and full of concern as he shifted his weight, getting a better hold on Amanda. Then he looked around, and saw the rest of the jail's population glaring at him mockingly.

It was then he realized how much he had favored her. He walked over to the cot, laid Amanda down, and sat himself down at the bed's foot.

"You can make it…Amanda I know it…its only one more day…you may not realize it, but it's already night."

With that sentence, Amanda stopped breathing again. He was right…Amanda had really lost track of time. Tomorrow, October the 25th, her trial would begin.

"You're right…but…"

"But what?"

"I just…can't do this!"

"Yes you can!"

Amanda broke out into tears again. The mere realization that freedom was in the hands of some judge wielding a gavel restrained her good feelings. The judge would never know what she went through even with the most sincere testimony.

Peter's hand inched towards Amanda on the bed. His pinky finger came within close proximity of hers; Amanda could feel the warmth of his body radiating from his hands. Peter wasn't seeking out any kind of relationship from Amanda, but he believed that having his hand next to hers would comfort her, and make her feel like he would be there to help her through the last month.

However Peter had judged incorrectly. As soon as Amanda noticed Peter's gesture, she retracted her hand quickly. She wasn't sure what he was trying to put forth.

There was also something in Amanda that was changing. She had some form of kind, loving property that vanished the minute she walked inside her cell. Peter sighed contemplatively as Amanda fidgeted with her sheets in silence.

"I have other matters to attend to…I'll be back to help you clean up…But do you think you'll be okay for now?"

Amanda nodded in agreement as she fought back more tears. Peter rose from the bed and excused himself from her cell, the other female jail-mates taking a jab at him with each step he took. Amanda watched him leave. As soon as she heard the jail house door close, Amanda turned on her side, and after awhile fell asleep.

She seemed to awake in a trance like state, on a cot, in a red corner room. Rising, she began to observe the walls. A crude magazine cut out of a woman was plastered in the middle of the wall against the bed. Draped upon hooks and shelves were white beads and various religious idols and symbols. A small silver lock box sat at the foot of the bed, a red sticky substance she knew all too well coating its lid. This strong imagery confused Amanda, so she went out looking for answers. She walked out pensively, trying to locate clues. Rustic cogs and crude implements littered the entire room; it resembled an old abandoned factory.

Eventually Amanda reached a room with white tiled walls. Rudimentary medical equipment laid scattered everywhere, coated in a thin vale of blood. A buzz saw precariously hung off the edge of one table, its blades also dipped in the dark red liquid. Amanda moved slowly, taking in every shocking implement from the room in moderation. A man dressed in a yellowed cotton shirt laid on an old hospital bed, his neck slit, blood pouring out in every direction. This shocked Amanda. Then she looked to the floor…

A large puddle of blood seemed to be leaking out of thin air, in the middle of the floor beside the man in the bed. The liquid pooled up by her boots—leaving a thin rim of red on the soles of her shoes. Amanda for reasons unknown reached her hand into the pool, playing with it in her hands…then all of a sudden, she was sucked into it like a black hole.

Amanda arose from her bed, beads of sweat cascading down her sticky forehead. She felt a stream of blood trickling from her lip. Amanda often bit her lip as a substitute for cutting. As she collected the blood with her fingers and felt its texture, she looked around her cell. Peter had thoughtfully removed all of the shards from the room, and replaced her sheets. Her orange sweat and blood soaked jail wear had also been exchanged yet again. Peter was simply too good to her. She looked to her right. No new toilet cover stood in the old one's place. Heaving a heavy sigh, she sat up and used the makeshift jail blanket to wipe away the sweat. A thin layer of sweat now covered her entire body, the perspiration making her clothes cling uncomfortably.

Sitting in the light, she wondered what to make of that dream. The man hadn't resembled anyone she has affection for, yet she began crying during that point of the dream. A feeling of deep sorrow overcame her for that man's death, and his identity was in no way recognizable to Amanda. But what confused her most of all was the puddle, that morphed into a vicious black hole.

_It was just a dream, just a twisted, sadistic dream…_

Amanda repeated this to herself over and over again; trying to reassure her mind nothing was wrong. Dreams usually mean nothing to Amanda. Normally, Amanda's dreams were too flighty and inconsistent to make sense, never mind hold any sort of meaning. But what she feared was this dream was to break the chain, and actually contain a moral deep within. The fact this could be "the" dream irked her in a very emotional way. She had a cousin she was once close to; they shared similar upbringings, and could commiserate with each other. This cousin happened to have this gift to have a meaningful dream in times of extreme stress. Stress was just one of the many ways to describe Amanda's situation, so it would be fitting.

Just then, a pale ray of sunshine escaped onto her sheets, illuminating her orange clothes and her sweaty skin. Amanda chased the ray with her eyes, all the way out of her cell. The source of the light came from the jail house door on the other side, propped open. A man walked in. As he came closer, she saw it was peter.

"It's time Amanda."

With that simple sentence, Peter walked up to her cell, unlocked her and escorted her out. She was taken through numerous corridors, and then shuffled into a car. Peter climbed in, taking the wheel. The drive to the courthouse was quiet and tranquil. Both of them sat in complete silence, Amanda's mind captivated by what could happen at the trial.

Before the two of them knew it, they had arrived at the courthouse. It really was time, time for Amanda's fate to be decided.

Authors Note: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile...school has gotten busy lately, and I just haven't had the time. I've been busy a lot, with a bunch of different things..including a little event called sawmania! I went and met Shawnee Smith (the actress who plays Amanda) there, it was really fun. But anyway, the thanksgiving day weekend really gave me a good amount of time to wor k on the story again, so I did. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and please leave reviews!


	7. Chapter 7: The End to an Immortal Legacy

Amanda entered the cold room with Peter s hand tightly gripping her arm. She had grown so frail and week from shooting up so frequently that Peter could wrap his index and thumb fingers around her upper arm completely. Amanda was a complete mess. The Judge took note of her disheveled appearance. The purple rings that colored the bags under her eyes concerned the Judge in a way which would solidify his decision about the trial before it had even begun.

Amanda received a court appointed lawyer to represent her in this trial. The lawyers that worked for the state were not too concerned about their job, as Amanda could clearly see. Though she didn t have her wits about her in this state of withdrawal, she was aware enough to tell this was going to be a one-sided trial. The Court deemed Amanda too dangerous to sit unsupervised next to her lawyer because of her self-abusive habits. She was placed next to her lawyer with a security guard standing right behind them both.

_There is a clear difference between self-harm and harming another, but no one in this room educated enough to know it. I m so screwed._

Amanda scoffed at this observation and slouched in her chair. Every sound drowned out until the room had only the sound of static. Mouths were moving, people were gesturing, arguments were occurring, but Amanda was not tuning in. She had tuned out completely, leaving her with no notion of how the trial was progressing. Amanda cited the withdrawal to blame for the inability to focus. She regained clarity when Amanda s arresting officer entered the room, an hour late . His devious smile and the cold, calculating look in his eye was unmistakable. Amanda had knocked on death s door when she had first crossed paths with Detective Matthews, and she was revisiting the horror today.

Eric stared her down, as if Amanda was both mentally and emotionally inferior to him. She had been insulted by him with just one glance. He might as well have placed himself within inches of her face and cackled directly at her, spitting with every chuckle. Though he had to be there for the trial, his presence unsettled Amanda indescribably.

She was sure that Eric was going to make it impossible for her to walk out a free woman. He was going to hold her down underwater and suffocate her story until she had become limp and succumbed to the fate he had chosen for her. Eric was out to get her; she could feel it in her bones and hear it in the tone of his voice.

The judge nor the jury addressed Amanda, not even once. No questions, nothing. They were giving an unfair trial, but Amanda had no control over it. Corrupt measures had screwed her over yet again. Another thing she did notice was that Peter had a pallid complexion about him. His eyes turned grey and his face fell at the verdict. Her sentence was 2 years for possession. To Amanda, it might as well have been life. She felt as if she should blame it all on the lawyer, not Eric Matthews who had framed her. Her public defender stood rigid and barely contributed to the proceedings at all. Amanda had been wronged in so many ways.

Peter had his grip tightly on Amanda s arm again as he removed her from the court room. On the way out, Eric flashed his devilish smirk at her yet again. His hands were in his pockets. Eric was relaxed and calmed by her sentencing. His job was done here. Yet another innocent was framed and suffered the worst of consequences for it.

Amanda's sentence went quickly. Now that she knew her fate, things progressed quickly. She made the same routines, going back and forth from that shadowy place and shooting up every night. Peter still had the same fondness for her he had always possessed. He helped her through it all. Little did she know, Peter was there for more than just her cause.

Kerry, I think I ve got enough evidence to figure this whole thing out. Detective Kerry swore she heard the voice of reasoning every time Eric spoke a word. But she was about to be proven incorrect over and over again. Kerry whipped around in her office chair, flicking the ash from her cigarette as she listened intently to this newfound information.

"There's so much rich evidence here. Do you know how many goddamn surgical gloves Eric used over the past couple years? Its remarkable. Then there are the many victims of his vicious schemes. One Amanda Young, one Laura Prescott, one Xavier Gutierrez, and countless others were all charged for various heinous crimes."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I get it. I'll mull over your research in a second. I'm kind of busy right now, Peter."

"Just promise you will look at it. We ve got quite a mess on our hands."

"Sure Peter, I'll look at it."

Kerry promised nothing more than an once-over. This is where Peter made his mistakes. He also handed her all his original copies, entrusting that she would hand back every document to the newly appointed undercover detective. Peter was the rookie at the precinct and unfortunately for all those involved in Eric's torment Peter acted like one too.

Just as Peter should have expected, Kerry looked at it once, and made sure all the evidence was properly discarded with no chance of recovery. Peter wasn t much for office gossip, but it was plain as day in the precinct that both Matthews and Kerry had romantic involvement of some sort. She would be the last to convict Matthews and throw him in the slammer. Plus she loved the perfume she had been given one night while Matthews out on the job. Kerry had no remorse for being as cold and uncaring as Matthews was. Amanda had no get out of jail free card prematurely. She was doomed to serve the sentence she was wrongfully given.

Two years passed. Amanda was free, but with nowhere to go. Contacting Brian was impossible. The apartment they had once shared years ago was now occupied by another who had no relation to Brian. Brian had not owned a cell phone, nor was he ever in contact with his parents. Amanda had no choice but to forget him, as every search she made for him turned cold.  
Amanda had no choice but to continue her habits she learned in jail. She subject herself to the fantasies of others in exchange for a few dollars in order to receive the euphoric rush she so desired the days before her trial. She lived in a shit hole on the bad side of town. The room was relatively bare except for a yellow lamp and a bed with rose red sheets. It reminded Amanda of the cell she shared with Laura many years ago.

The way Amanda met John was strange. It was through torture, again. John had kidnapped her. He had set up a sadistic game for her to play to prove her merit. As messed up as Amanda was, she had now known she had to do whatever she needed to survive; even if it meant taking someone else s life in her own hands.

Amanda awoke spinning. All she could taste was metal. Her lids opened slowly as she took in her surroundings. She felt bound, as restricted as being in a jail cell. It turned out she was restricted, there was no visible way for her to escape this hollow tomb. She looked down to her hands. Duct tape stuck her to the chair she had been placed in. She could feel some sort of enclosure surrounding her head and blocking her mouth. Amanda began hyperventilating in fear and uncertainty.

The TV screen adjacent to her lit up, revealing a strange figure. This figure told her the only way in which she would be able to escape these dingy, dark four walls. There was a man lying in the corner, and he was her only means of escape. She couldn t recognize him from her chair. She had to get up to figure out who he was. Amanda freed her wrists from the duct tape with a few swift tugs. Unfortunately rising from the chair was her biggest mistake.

_**Clang!** Tick, tick, tick, tick _

Unknowingly, Amanda had started the timer to her demise. It was only mere seconds before she had to make life changing decisions. On the way towards the man lying on the floor she found a knife. What was she going to do with the man on the floor, and the sharp instrument now in her hand?

As Amanda reached the man she noticed something deeply disturbing about his identity. Her memory bounced back to the day Eric Matthews first arrested her. The man who was on the floor unconscious now was the same man who gave her his dress shirt to wear, the same one who cuddled with her, the same one she was romantically involved with. The one who lay before her inert was Brian.

She wasted precious seconds thinking back on what he had meant to her. But what occurred to her is that she hadn t been there for her now. Amanda had tried to locate him before she wound up in this dingy basement to no avail. It was all too late now. Brian s fate had been decided.

With one sharp movement the knife plunged deep beneath Brian s skin, cutting into his stomach. Brian s eyes opened wide at this moment. He wasn t already dead like Amanda had assumed. Though this made it harder for Amanda to continue, she had to press on. Through bouts of sobbing and violent jerking motions she had found the key hidden within Brian's flesh.

Frantically she searched for the lock on the back of her head. Mere seconds before the device was programmed to unhinge itself, Amanda successfully removed it from her cranium. Hands covered in blood and eyes soaked in tears, Amanda trembled in the dark room along sobbing uncontrollably. Then, the closed off passageway was opened. Amanda's gaze rose slowly to meet eyes with the figure that stood before her. He removed his hood and analyzed Amanda's current state doubled over in fear and distress.

"Hello. My name is John. Amanda, you have deemed yourself worthy of being a crucial part in my operation to help those who are selfish to appreciate the lives they have now. Join me, and together we will make this world a better place for all. I can help you, Amanda. We can help each other."

Amanda knew he was twisted. She knew he had flaws. But she noticed something that he had said, something that had gotten her to succumb to his wants. He was going to help her, like Peter. He was not going to objectify her. He was just going to aid her. That was the night Amanda sealed her fate, once and for all.

The time in between then and now was a blur. Amanda was back to lying on the cold sick room floor, the only thing warm around her was her blood circling her body. John had saved her, alright. John had saved her in a way that was against his message, but it had satisfied Amanda nonetheless. Amanda's death saved her from all that had plagued her from her past, and with John's help she was finally going to get relief from the drama and hardships she has encountered. After all these years, Amanda was finally free.

A/N: I know the ending isn't exactly true to the actual story, but that's how I meant it. There was a puppet before John came out and those weren't his exact words but I felt it wasn't crucial to the story line. I am sorry I havent been able to develop this story more but since I've been quite busy lately I decided to just put an ending to it. I've been seeing a number of people reviewing it and taking interest in it and I felt it was only fair to give those who are fans of the story closure. I also had to do a project for my Creative Writing class and thought this story would be perfect for it. :p. Thanks for the support everyone and I hope you liked the ending!


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